Extraordinary Measures

Now I have to give some kind of a spoiler alert for this. OK, not a spoiler alert but an alert nevertheless about how the more emotional of you would be challenged big time to keep your tears back, a few minutes into this movie. And from then on, you would face the worry every few minutes. Yeah it is that kind of a movie. One that would go extremely well with your family on a Sunday afternoon with the kids around because there are just so many messages that the kids can take away. And it surprises me a lot (actually it should not) that this one again never saw the light of the day on the big screen in this country. Why is it that there are so many movies that are not released in India despite there being a reasonably large sized market out here? In sharp contrast, there are movies which are premiered in India along with other markets – for e.g. Avatar. Well anyways we live with what we get I guess.

Muscular Dystrophy or Pompe has no known cure but there are therapies that help reduce the impact in a manner of speaking. But if you are a father of two kids who have Pompe, then what would you do? How far would you go to find a cure for the disease? Would you quit your job which pays you enough and more money as a senior manager and more importantly the $40K that you need every month as insurance for the kids medical fees? Would you consider relocating from Portland to Nebraska – only about 2500 kms away only because the one person who could be in the right direction for the cure is based out of Nebraska? Would you consider picking the scientist’s cure and raising half a million dollars for starting up on the cure all by yourself? And would you consider that the only purpose in your life is to find a cure for Pompe despite the fact that your kids may not have more than a couple of years and the cure would take an indefinite time? John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) answered yes to all of the above questions. He decided that nothing was less when it comes upto his kids and he would go to whatever extent required to find the cure for Pompe.

I like Brendan Fraser. I think he is an under rated actor and needs to just find himself the correct roles so as to get him into the really quality league. No inputs required for the most bankable star in Hollywood and Keri Russell as the simple mother of two was also pretty good. It is indeed a very commendable effort from director Tom Vaughn to have managed to get the required emotions out from every single person of the cast. The movie is after all primarily driven by the emotions of a desperate father. I thought it was a couple of hours invested well. I am quite certain you would also find it to be the same. The TV premiere was on HBO last nite. I am quite certain it would be repeated over the next few days. Catch it if you can. 7 on 10 is what I would give it.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2237007129/